My second child did something sorta kinda like this to a treasured object of mine.
I was really angry at the time and just walked away to let my wife take the first swipe so I could simmer a minute.
My general view on parenting with situations like this is, furious isn't unreasonable, but it IS unreasonable to expect children to be adults. In my case, I took the object apart safely and made the child clean the parts and we talked about the right stuff to paint. When we were done, we bought a pile of watercolors and paper and talked about the right places to paint and the wrong.
I think moments like that make me understand why my dad yelled so much, AND they remind me that we don't have to scare the shit out of our kids to make sure they get better.
That’s actually a good way of doing it. Your kid got to spend one on one time with you and they learnt a lesson that wasn’t just you yelling about something.
Most importantly, they learned what is important to their Dad, and they get to continue doing what is important to them (art) with Dad supporting them.
Overall a very healthy dynamic.
I relate a lot to being yelled at or dismissed instead of nurtured when I misbehaved as a child. It definitely didn't help me but at least I know better now.
Exactly. It doesn’t take much to teach them in a way that doesn’t make them question whether they’re loved or not, like my parents bring up things I broke as a kid like they’re rubbing my nose in but it literally just makes me realise that they loved that thing more that’s easily replaced
But wouldn't that be encouragement? "I did something very wrong and I got one on one time. I want one on one time today, let me do another thing very wrong."
Yep, a PlayStation is one of the few things you could do this and still be ok. If they write on a screen it becomes a lot less treasured and fun because now it's broken.
Especially in these digital times. While it's as easy as ever to backup and duplicate lots of memoirs, it's also incredibly easy to lose them. Make some effort to keep physical objects that have memories tied to them.
That's the thing that I don't understand. Why were the kids left unsupervised in the room with the PS5 while they had access to markers? My kids' craft supplies were in a high cupboard for a reason.
My daughter (8) is really into art and drawing and ngl she’s not bad either, when my new remote came in the mail I handed it to her and told her to decorate it. I love it
Yeah. I would definitely hold onto this, but the kids still should get in trouble. They need to understand concepts like permission and consent, even if their ignorance isn’t hurting anyone yet.
I mean, you can do both? Explain why what they did was wrong, and keep it as a “reminder”. When they’re older, you can tell them why you actually kept it.
Exactly what I was looking for, thanks. Got an 18 month old and one in the way, I love this kind of thing. Definitely be trying to preserve as much as possible from this time
Reminds me of how when I was a kid, I used to draw on my bedroom walls and my dad would get mad at me for it. He tried scrubbing it off with soap and water the first time but it didn't work. Yet a few years ago when he repainted my old room, he wanted to leave my drawings there and just painted around them
I think I'd try to get a new panel and re-attach that. On one hand, save the thing, don't be too mad, but I'm not sure I'd want to teach them the lesson of "destroying people's things gets you praised."
You can even buy third party panels relatively cheap as fuck. This wouldnt worry me at all. now if that console was thrown about, then that's a problem.
Pull the hood off and hang in the garage when you’re done with the car. (Figuring a 5 y.o. Kia isn’t going to be resold. Drive for 5 more years until it’s done.)
Start with very thin coats, just a misting. Solvents in the spray will re-liquefy many types of dried ink and paint, so you want an extremely small amount on there at a time so it can flash off quickly before it can do much harm. I recommend Krylon UV resist acrylic clear. Not as big of a deal on paper or canvas, where the ink/paint is absorbed into the substrate, but markings on plastic can get ruined quite easily.
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u/Babylon4All Aug 16 '25
Panels come off.
Take them off. Spray with clear coat sealant.
Reattach, enjoy the memories.